Sasuke's Return
by liZZi3.LUNiTiC
Summary: -SASUSAKU- Where else could he go now? No where else. So, Sasuke Uchiha set off, stained with his brother's blood, towards his old home. Konahagakure.
1. sŧяąиġεя

**cħąpŧεя** ợиε : _sŧяąиġεя_

_

* * *

_**sυммąяy**: [**SAKUSASUINO**] Where else could he go now? No where else. So, Sasuke Uchiha set off, stained with his brother's blood, towards his old home. Konahagakure.

**яąŧε₫**: M+ [Mature Only]

**ωąяиıиġ**: Other pairings, minor and not minor, sex, drinking, drunk people, cat fights, drama, and violence.

**đıscℓąıмεя**: I know this will depress you all greatly, but I do not own Naruto.

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Wind whipped through the lush, soft grass, and swayed the dark shapes and shadows of trees, making them whisper in the black night sky. Tired blood red eyes slowly morphed into exhausted onyx ones as the lean silhouette of a male slumped down against a cherry blossom tree. The dark eyes studied a limp, cloaked body lying uselessly on the earthy grass, covered in blood. Itachi Uchiha was officially dead. Now the dark-eyed male wiped a bloody hand, stained with his brother's blood, against his sweaty forehead. A light breeze blew against his raven-colored hair; it felt nice as it glided past his skin, hot and sweaty with the effort of murder. Something soft and delicate-feeling slid into his hand, which was laid out open against the ground. Curious of what had blown directly into his hand, Sasuke looked down to see none other than a cherry blossom, fully bloomed and beautiful as ever. _Sakura._ It was the first thing that had immediately drifted into his mind when he had realized a cherry blossom had slid into his hand—her name. _What does she look like now?_ Sasuke wondered to himself. Now, the two of them were nineteen, and the last time he had seen her was when she was fifteen; it had been four years. The remaining Uchiha closed his eyes now, remembering her flawless porcelain skin, her mesmerizing aqua eyes, and her delicate pink hair. So many questions about Sakura Haruno now filled his head. Was she still fond of him? Had she gotten stronger? Has she grown her hair out? Was she still wearing red as her main color? Sasuke sighed, irritated with himself. It shouldn't matter what Sakura was like now, though he was morbidly curious—about her and Naruto. No doubt Naruto had gotten stronger; he always had when Sasuke used to see him. Now another strong gust of wind blew past him, and with it, it carried away Sasuke's questions and thoughts of his ex-teammates and ex-best friends.

His eyelids felt heavy, and a long, tired yawn escaped from Sasuke's mouth. He shifted around until he was comfortably lying down, though the tree stump Sasuke used as a pillow was not exactly pleasant. Sasuke just shrugged it off—for tonight, he would just have to live with it. Now his heartless black eyes stared up at the jet black sky, covered with glimmering, twinkling stars. From Earth, the stars looked cold and cruel as they twinkled down upon Sasuke that night. He took in a deep, relaxing breath and let his eyelids cover his dark, mysterious orbs of coal as sleep took him for the night.

* * *

Icy wind whipped against Sasuke's already chilled, damp face, waking up as the sun just barely peaked over the horizon. His clothes were damp as well—it must have drizzled a little while Sasuke had slept. A feeling of confusion swept over the pale-skinned Uchiha as he saw the many bloodstains, weapons, and indentions in the ground from last night's battle with Itachi, but his body was gone. Had the Akatsuki come to see how the battle had gone, seen that Itachi was obviously dead, seen the bloodstains all over Sasuke, and had declared him for dead as well? Sasuke just shrugged it off; he honestly didn't care what happened to Itachi's body. Now his eyes traveled to the sunrise—a beautiful mix of blues, purples, pinks, oranges, and yellows all up against a dull, dark blue sky with the icy stars still glowing in the gloomy early morning sky. The dark-eyed man wasn't admiring the sunrise though; he was contemplating where he would go now. _Konaha?_ He suggested to himself. _No,_ He quickly, firmly decided. But where else could he go now? Orochimaru was dead—so now he could go nowhere else. It was decided then—Konahagakure. Stiffly he stood up, using the tree for support, and Sasuke darted off immediately, stained with his brother's blood, towards his old home. Konahagakure.

A long while had passed—Sasuke had started at sunrise, and it was now sunset. He had kept going, and had not stopped at anything, though his eyes were tired, his feet were aching, his stomach was growling, and he had to take a piss. Sasuke ignored it though, his perfect, pale face remained robotic, and his dark eyes remained cold—nothing about his strong, fast strides gave away any sign of being tired or uncomfortable. Suddenly he stopped gracefully and silently on a strong tree branch. He narrowed his eyes, and concealed his chakra flow altogether. _Four people...are thirty meters away._ (Thirty meters are ninety-eight feet.) He could tell two of them were either tourists or ninja checking into Konaha, while the other two were on duty at the gate. Slowly Sasuke began moving forward again, but at a slower rate, until the two others had long since gotten into Konaha. Now only less than fourteen meters, (forty-five feet) Sasuke slowed even more, and became very stealthy. He cautiously crept down the wide path until he was less than three meters (nine feet) away from the gates. Then Sasuke casually began walking down the dirt path, being less stealthy and noisier to be sure the people at the front gate weren't surprised, or thought that he was attacking.

When Sasuke entered the clearing, both at the check-in desk were dark-haired men, and both had their eyes closed in a welcoming smile to him—obviously they hadn't seen him yet. "Hello, welcome to—" That's when they opened their eyes. "You're…_Sasuke Uchiha_," He noted, his tone thick with surprise, though his eyes were guarded, and Sasuke could tell the men were ready for an attack. "Code five-oh-one!"

Immediately, the man beside him used a transportation jutsu and ended up right behind Sasuke—just as he thought. Sasuke easily could have avoided the man even being behind him, and both knew that, but he didn't, because he wanted to live back in Konaha again—permanently. He allowed the man to knock him down, and tie up his hands in the back. The man, a dark-haired man, with greenish-brown eyes and light skin, moved him along throughout the entire town. Everywhere, pedestrians, most he didn't know or remember, stopped and stared at him as he passed by. There wasn't anger, fear, or outrage in any of their eyes—just respect and genuine excitement and surprise.

Finally, they had entered the Hokage Towers, and were walking down the long, intricately decorated hallway towards the end—where the Hokage waited. The walk was too short for Sasuke, because he had figured that he would be sentenced to jail. Now the dark-haired, hazel-eyed man knocked on the door, and as they waited, a beautiful voice could be heard—obviously female. Her words were muffled, but just by her voice, Sasuke could tell she was pretty. "Come in!" A louder, harsher voice, though it was also obviously female, called. Then Sasuke calmly opened the door. Immediately his eyes took in a woman with chocolate brown eyes, two blond ponytails, a revealing shirt, and lip gloss-coated lips. This was Konaha's new Hokage? She gave Sasuke a hard stare. "Arigato, Isamu." The man that had escorted Sasuke, Isamu, left quietly and shut the door behind him. "Sasuke Uchiha," The woman noted, her voice welcoming, though her eyes were fierce. "Please, take a seat beside my apprentice." Silently, he obeyed, without casting a glance in the girl's direction. "I suppose you shouldn't know me, since you left before I became Hokage, correct?" Emotionless, he nodded once. "Alright, well I'm Tsunade, and you have already met my apprentice."

It was only now Sasuke turned to look at the woman sitting in the chair beside him. Her aqua eyes were icy, and stared blankly out of the window. Her hair was pin-straight, and very unusual. The top part was a rosette pink, and the bottom was a light platinum blond, and she had her bangs shoved to one side. The woman's all-black, tight, revealing, ridiculously short outfit—black short-shorts, a revealing black tank-top, black knee-high sandals, and black gloves—accented her hair, eyes, and pale skin, and oddly enough, he could smell a calming scent of vanilla and strawberries coming off of her. The woman was familiar—she reminded Sasuke so much of someone, but he couldn't begin to remember who. He slowly tore his gaze away from the beautiful woman and nodded towards Tsunade, though he really had no idea of who it was. "Alright, you are dismissed," She said in a gentle tone, her attention towards the pink-and-blond haired girl.

The girl smiled a breathtaking smile, lighting up her entire face. She nodded towards her mentor. "Arigato, Tsunade-sama," she said in a delicate voice—she was the girl Sasuke had been hearing earlier outside. "Sayonara," She added as she gently closed the door.

"Alright Uchiha," Tsunade began, her voice icy suddenly, "why have you come back?"

Sasuke smirked; she would have to let him off the hook since he had killed some of Konaha's biggest threats. "I killed Orochimaru, Kabuto, Itachi, and Kisame." He paused for a minute, to let Tsunade absorb that fact, and then continued, "Then I decided to come back to Konaha, because I had nowhere else."

Tsunade was in all honesty surprised. She was expecting only Orochimaru and Itachi, not their partners too. At first she had planned to give him a fifteen-year sentence still. Now, with him killing four people, that matter changed everything. Tsunade was stumped at what to do for a punishment. "Alright then, Sasuke," She began calmly. "That takes life in prison, and the death penalty off the table. But, you're still liable to go to jail, in my book. You've had to have given out valuable information to our enemies."

The dark-haired man simply nodded in agreement. "I have," He admitted honestly, "but, only to Orochimaru, and I killed him, then I went through all of his files, and destroyed the information about Konaha I gave him."

"It's probably gotten spread around though," She pointed out.

"He kept it to himself," Sasuke shot back coolly, "because he needed it to make a plan to destroy the village, and he didn't want others getting hold of the information, and destroying his chance."

Tsunade nodded, beginning to give in. "But some of his most-trusted ninja and workers, still alive, must know of it."

Her response made Sasuke think for a minute, and then he remembered, "His most-trusted ninja, the sound five, were all killed in the first retrieval mission the Leaf assigned. Then, his most trusted workers were Kabuto, Karin, and me. Kabuto was killed, and Karin knows none of the incriminating information."

She smirked, and Sasuke knew she would win now. "She knows information, though." Tsunade noted pointedly. "Information she could tell others."

"I could easily go back and kill her." Sasuke offered.

Tsunade chuckled a little. "That's not necessary, now anyways; let's get back on topic please." She paused, thinking of where they had left off before the argument had started. "Anyways, your sentence will be lighter than it normally would have been, but most likely you will still be going to jail for quite a while unless," She paused for a climax, "you answer every question honestly, and describe everything interrogators ask you to truthfully. In the meantime, you will be training with your old teammates until we find you another group."

"Another group?" Sasuke echoed emotionlessly. He liked his old squad, no matter how annoying his teammates were. Sasuke trusted that they had changed drastically. "Why can't I stay with my old one?"

"Well…you're still a Genin," Tsunade explained, a little amused, "while the others are in Jounin, ANBU, and Sakura is a genius in medical fields at the hospital." Sasuke scowled. "Don't worry, Sasuke—the Chuunin exams are soon." She smiled widely, "Naruto is still a Genin, too. I'll make sure you both are in the same group." That made Sasuke chuckle—Naruto had all this time to become a Chuunin, he actually should have the first time, but he never did. That was golden, and certainly something to annoy him with. "Alright, well for now you'll be staying with Naruto in his apartment. I'll have him notified immediately. "Arigato, Sasuke," She finally said as a dismissal, "sayonara."

Sasuke bowed a little as he stood up out of the chair. "Arigato, Tsunade," With that, he fluidly exited the room, and quickly escaped from the building only to realize it was nighttime, and the sun was almost completely set. How long had he spent with the Hokage? He sighed, and still remembered the village perfectly, so there was no point in just standing. He casually began walking around the streets of Konaha, towards Naruto's apartment complex, getting looks from pedestrians.

"_Sasuke-kun_?" A soft voice, obviously female, asked in surprise. He turned, curious to see who it was, though he had an idea that it might have been Sakura. No, it was a woman, with short, soft-looking platinum blond hair, and bright crystal blue eyes, even lighter than Naruto's. The woman's skin was fair, and she was wearing a short, white pharmaceutical uniform. Immediately Sasuke realized this woman was Ino Yamanaka—a fangirl worse than Sakura had been. Sakura was tolerable, and at times cute, but Ino had just been like a stalker. To his intent surprise, Ino smacked him in the jaw, tripped him, and then rammed him in the stomach once he was down. Then, without even telling him why she had done it, Ino simply walked away in a casual manner, just as she had walked up to him.

What had shocked him most though was that she had actually hurt him. Sasuke had always thought of Ino as pretty, bitchy, and occasionally slutty, but certainly never strong. He knew that she was weak. Weaker than Sakura, but that would certainly not be the case now, would it? Now, he limped towards Naruto's apartment complex, and just as the sky darkened up completely, he knocked against Naruto's door. Two seconds went by, and the door swung open. "Sasuke!" He greeted, grinning widely.

Naruto had changed a lot, as well as Ino. Naruto was taller than Sasuke now, and Naruto had grown his hair out into a shaggy style, rather than spiked. His outfit hadn't changed much though. Its main colors were still orange and black, but now he was wearing a plain black t-shirt, with bright orange pants that had interesting splatters of black on them. Eagerly, Naruto pulled him into his messy apartment, and tackled him with a hug that had the intentions of killing. "How does it feel to be my new roommate, Teme?" He asked with another ridiculously wide grin.

"What's new, Dobe?" Sasuke asked him casually, ignoring Naruto's question. "Enjoy being a Genin?"

That made Naruto growl, irritated by Sasuke already. "Hey, you're still a Genin too, and I'm going to become Chuunin five times faster than you ever will!" Sasuke just snickered. "Come on, bring it on, Sasuke! You don't scare me!"

"I should scare you, Dobe." He shot back smoothly, giving him a smirk.

"No you shouldn't, because I'm way better than you ever will be!"

"Sure, sure," Sasuke noted dismissively, "you just keep telling yourself that."

"Hey!"

Sasuke felt his stomach growl loudly, loud enough to where Naruto could even hear it. "Do you have any tomatoes around?" He asked curiously. "I haven't eaten I days."

"No," Naruto replied with a grin, "but I'm gonna treat you to the best place in town—besides the ramen shop! Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan are going to be there, too. To reunite the team."

Unsure onyx clashed with animated azure eyes, which slowly faded to where they looked defensive, angry, even. "Sakura-chan's changed," Naruto all but growled. Sasuke's face remained impassive, but secretly his mind was buzzing around in surprise. How did Naruto, the idiot of Squad Seven, figure out he was hesitant to go because of Sakura? "She doesn't like you at all, actually." He added, surprisingly icily for him.

Sasuke just shrugged it off. He didn't care about Sakura's feelings towards him, and actually didn't even want to know about them. In fact, Sasuke just wished the two hadn't met period. "Good," He replied in his usual tone, "but that's not why I didn't want to go."

"Why, then?"

"Have you even seen how dark it is outside? It's probably nearing morning again already." Sasuke noted pointedly, but Naruto just shrugged it off. "I'm not even in the mood to eat out. I just want some tomatoes." This made his roommate roar with laughter, and slowly the laughter faded as Naruto stubbornly began dragging Sasuke out of his apartment, towards the nicest, most elegant restaurant he could afford in Konaha.

The journey to the restaurant was endless for Sasuke; he just wanted to rest at Naruto's apartment in all honesty. Obviously Naruto, Kakashi, and Sakura had planned just the opposite. "Ah, Sasuke," A husky, familiar voice noted fondly, "I'm glad to see you again after all these years."

Sasuke smirked as he spun around to face his former trainer. "Kakashi," He noted with a bit of surprise, "you're on time."

The Jounin nodded, and smiled beneath his mask—unfortunately, he still wore it, but now Sasuke realized with surprise that he would be able to see what his face looked like tonight when he ate. "I'm usually the one on time now—Sakura's always the one that's late." Sasuke of course hid it easily, and well, but he suppressed a scoffing snicker. _Beauty queen doing her hair?_ "Even I don't have a schedule as rough as hers." Kakashi continued.

Silent, Sasuke watched as Naruto solemnly nodded in agreement. "I can't believe Tsunade-baachan does that to her. We hardly spend any time together anymore!"

"Talking about me behind my back again?" A teasing voice, an exact copy of the beautiful one Sasuke had heard at the Hokage Tower in Tsunade's office, asked. Then straight from nowhere, a blinding light cut through the intense darkness—other than the street lights—and was gone in a millisecond, replaced by the platinum blond-and-rosette Sasuke had seen earlier, except an ANBU mask covered her face now. "Sorry I'm late," She began to explain, gingerly taking off her mask and sliding it into an expensive-looking black bag she wore on her arm. "Tsunade-sama sent me out on an emergency mission."

Cold eyes clashed together in that moment. Her piercing gaze affected even him, Sasuke Uchiha. "Sakura-chan, what was the mission?" Then, her negative attention placed on him evaporated at Naruto's question, and was replaced by positive emotion.

"A Hyuuga was killed; we had to destroy the evidence," Sakura explained vaguely. Naruto drew in a breath to ask more questions, but Sakura just gave a tiny smile, and put her index finger up to her mouth. "Classified information," She noted, which caused Naruto to sigh.

"Do you ever get sent on a mission that _isn't _so important the information is classified?" Naruto asked bitterly. Sakura just laughed lightly, a laugh of an angel singing, and smiled.

Then one hand gently flew down to her stomach, which growled loud enough the entire group could hear it. "Let's get inside—I haven't eaten all day." Kakashi nodded calmly, and lead the way in, with Naruto and Sakura following a little ways behind, but each were side by side. Suddenly feeling awkward, Sasuke slid in quietly behind all the others. Finally, when he entered through, Sakura was already talking to the waitress up front in a friendly manner, and almost immediately the woman nodded, grabbed four of the shiniest menus there, and began to lead them to an extravagant booth.

"Doctor Haruno!" A loud, urgent voice called throughout the restaurant now, interrupting the other three's conversation about something or other—Sasuke wasn't involved in any of the conversations—and causing them to all direct their attention to a weary-looking, dark haired woman with her eyes wide, her face with a nervous expression upon it, and her hair frazzled. Immediately, Sakura stood up to greet the woman who had called her. "Doctor," She sighed in relief, though her tone was still urgent, "the Kazekage and his siblings arrived in Konahagakure just a moment ago." The tiny woman paused to gasp in air, "They arrived because none of their doctors in Suna could treat Kazekage-sama. He requested you as his doctor for Konaha."

He watched intently as Sakura simply nodded at the woman's urgent message. "Arigato, Akira-san," She responded politely, "Let's hurry back then." The small frail woman, Akira, nodded at Sakura's calm instructions, and the two sprinted off, Sakura obviously ahead, towards the Konaha Medical Emergency Center.

Silence surrounded the group, everyone, Sasuke included were lost in their thoughts. So, the stranger of "Tsunade's apprentice" was solved. Sasuke now knew that the apprentice had been Sakura Haruno, kunouchi of the Leaf.

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**Comment if you love me.:)  
**I know it wasn't much of a chapter romance-wise, but it's progressive. There will definitely be more romance in the next chapter, so just be patient and read on. **AND COMMENT PLZ.** I'll love you forever if you comment me.  
Sorry about the characters being a little OOC. Especially Sasuke, I think.:/ I'll work on that in the next chapter.

~lUN!T!C


	2. ķıss

**cħąpŧεя** ŧωợ: _ķıss_

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_**sυммąяy**: [**SAKUSASUINO**] Where else could he go now? No where else. So, Sasuke Uchiha set off, stained with his brother's blood, towards his old home. Konahagakure.

**яąŧε₫**: M+ [Mature Only]

**ωąяиıиġ**: Other pairings, minor and not minor, sex, drinking, drunk people, cat fights, drama, and violence.

**đıscℓąıмεя**: I know this will depress you all greatly, but I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**Last Chapter...**

_"Doctor Haruno!" A loud, urgent voice called throughout the restaurant now, interrupting the other three's conversation about something or other—Sasuke wasn't involved in any of the conversations—and causing them to all direct their attention to a weary-looking, dark haired woman with her eyes wide, her face with a nervous expression upon it, and her hair frazzled. Immediately, Sakura stood up to greet the woman who had called her. "Doctor," She sighed in relief, though her tone was still urgent, "the Kazekage and his siblings arrived in Konahagakure just a moment ago." The tiny woman paused to gasp in air, "They arrived because none of their doctors in Suna could treat Kazekage-sama. He requested you as his doctor for Konaha."_

_He watched intently as Sakura simply nodded at the woman's urgent message. "Arigato, Akira-san," She responded politely, "Let's hurry back then." The small frail woman, Akira, nodded at Sakura's calm instructions, and the two sprinted off, Sakura obviously ahead, towards the Konaha Medical Emergency Center._

_Silence surrounded the group, everyone, Sasuke included were lost in their thoughts. So, the stranger of "Tsunade's apprentice" was solved. Sasuke now knew that the apprentice had been Sakura Haruno, kunouchi of the Leaf.

* * *

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The surrounding city she saw through her aqua eyes were simple blurred smudges of variant shades as she flew through the empty streets of Konaha. Finally the pair stopped in the front of a large white building—K.M.E.C., or Konaha Medical Emergency Center. A warm, gentle breeze caressed Sakura's much-exposed skin as she emotionlessly waited for her companion, Akira, to catch up to her. Finally after what seemed like eons, Akira appeared before her, tired, sweating, and breathless. Hurrying, the two quickly strode into the hospital. Multiple people greeted, then immediately, the long haired blond, and chocolate-brown eyed Hokage appeared before her. "Sakura," She noted, with her tone thick in urgency, "Gaara-sama's very unstable at the moment. The other doctors that have examined him have no idea what's wrong with him. I was just about to go up myself, but now we can go up together." Sakura nodded, and without another word, the two strode quickly towards the elevator.

Finally it reached floor seven, where patients with severe illness were kept. "Do they have any idea in the slightest of what he might have?" Sakura finally asked as she followed briskly and fluidly after her mentor, whom was leading her to Gaara's room.

Tsunade stopped at one of the rooms down at the end of the hallway. "Some think it may be an undetected poison."

With that, Tsunade calmly opened up the door to Gaara's room, where the redheaded Kazekage was laying in his bed, paler than ever, and it was obvious to Sakura that he was in dire pain. Now Sakura's eyes wandered towards the black chairs, which stood out against the pale white walls and the lovely rosewood flooring, which were filled with Gaara's siblings, Temari, his older sister, and Kankuro, his older brother. Temari looked up as Sakura gingerly began to walk over towards Gaara. Her blue eyes were tinted with a red hue about them—she had recently been crying. She smiled in a comforting manner, and the two embraced each other. "He's getting worse so quickly," Kankuro noted quietly once Temari had settled back down beside him.

Sakura and Kankuro exchanged a long glance with each other. Both were remembering how Sakura had saved him from the Akatsuki's puppet-master's poison. "I'll try my hardest to help him," She whispered quietly after a long while.

"Everything's going to be alright now," Sakura heard Temari whisper very hopefully, almost certainly, towards her younger brother, Kankuro.

_I wouldn't say that,_ Sakura responded mentally. She was the "miracle doctor" of Konaha; some people could come in with an unknown disease, and they would be fully cured by the next day if they were in Sakura's care. There was a real chance though, that Gaara would die here, and there was also a chance he would live, though. Now she studied him, hovering above him for half a second before sitting down upon her stool. "Gaara-sama," She murmured softly. His aqua eyes opened, and stared into hers. "Can you describe to me what your symptoms are?" He nodded once, and waited patiently as Sakura quickly grabbed a pen and a clipboard from a nearby counter—obviously, they had been expecting her for a while now, since they had already set things up for her.

Sakura watched as the Kazekage, using much effort, sat up, breathing heavily with the effort he had put into it. "It's so hard to move," He began, coughing hoarsely a little, to clear up his weak, scratchy voice. "It hurts to talk, to eat, and to breathe. I always feel like I have to cough, and that hurts too—I also sneeze a lot. I'm getting constant headaches, and I throw up at least three different times a day; I can't hold anything down." His light eyes drifted towards his IVs he was hooked up to—they were feeding him through it, obviously.

She nodded as she jotted them down neatly onto her clipboard. "Other than pain, have you had any trouble with breathing?" She asked curiously, crossing her long, silky pale legs.

Gaara nodded a little. "Sometimes, and it's getting worse."

Sakura jotted this down as well, unsure of what this disease could be. _Maybe this isn't any disease at all._ She realized suddenly. _It could be a disorder, or more likely, a poison of some sort._ "When did the first symptoms appear?" She asked, already pegging this down as an unidentified poison.

"About three weeks ago," Temari replied in a sure tone. She had been keeping track of the days Gaara had been sick? Sakura wondered quietly. She and Kankuro both must be worried. Quickly she added this to her notes, and turned towards Temari. If she was so sure of when this all had started, perhaps she also knew of how.

"Alright, do you know of exactly when the first symptom appeared—or how? After a meal, maybe," Sakura prompted with her eyes hopeful. For a moment, before Temari began to reply, her eyes flickered towards Tsunade, and she could see that her mentor had already caught on to what she was getting at, or what she suspected already.

The two of Gaara's siblings exchanged a confused glance—obviously the other doctors had not asked this question. Temari shut her eyes tightly, trying to remember when. She opened her eyes, and shrugged—she couldn't. Sakura bit her lip, and turned back towards Gaara. "I remember," He noted weakly. "It was after dinner when I got a sudden headache, and it was hard for me to move."

Quickly she wrote this, and circled it. Sakura knew now—his chief had poisoned him. "Alright," Sakura began, placing the clipboard into her lap now. "My suspicion is that you were poisoned by your cook at dinner."

"Could it just be food poisoning?" Temari asked curiously.

"No, food poisoning does get worse at first, but it doesn't get this bad, and certainly doesn't last as long as three weeks." Sakura responded surely. "We need to run a few quick tests to see exactly what substances are in his system. Would you mind terribly?" She asked, her attention directed towards Gaara. The redheaded man shook his head, and gingerly, Sakura gently helped him up, and Tsunade, Gaara, and she went to go do some blood tests.

* * *

Dim sunlight filtered through the elegant windows of the K.M.E.C. in a bright morning sunrise, the brilliant colors created by the sun slowly beginning to creep above the horizon vivid against the dark sky of nighttime, with its stars still out and twinkling. Her aqua eyes didn't leave the page of information she had gathered though she was sitting by the window as she reviewed it all with her blond-haired, brown-eyed mentor, Tsunade. "He has two poisonous plants in his system—one is Precatory Bean, and the other is Snakeberry. Now the trick is to find antidote."

Tsunade nodded in agreement. "You work on finding that, while I get Ino's help, and tell the others." Sakura followed Tsunade out of the lounge, then the two went opposite ways, one towards the elevator, and the other towards the room. Impatiently, Sakura awaited the elevator, and finally after what seemed like months, it arrived. Fluidly the porcelain medical ninja slipped into the elevator, pressed the last floor—where they created antidotes—and the elevator flew down quicker than Sakura thought was possible for an elevator. She briskly slid out of the elevator, greeted the few other workers that were there, and started her work.

Sakura had been working from sunrise to sunset, and by midday Ino had finally arrived to help, and together, the two found the perfect antidote. Quickly, Sakura wiped away the sweat from her forehead. "You know Sakura," Ino began in a teasing manner, "you're forehead actually looks normal now—actually it's one of the prettiest things about you." Sakura laughed at her best friend's remark. "It's true," She practically sang. "Oh yeah," Ino began, "A little birdie told me that Sasuke Uchiha's back from killing everyone." The blond had spit venom onto his name as she spoke it, which caused Sakura to shudder lightly. Then she grimaced. "I know—we all met up last night for something to eat." Ino laughed at Sakura's sour expression before she continued and added, "To make matters worse, Kakashi and Naruto were telling him about me. I don't even like that dumbass anymore."

Ino's jaw dropped, her crystal blue eyes wide. "Oh my God, I can't believe they did that." She murmured as she prepared the perfect dosage for Gaara. "All I can say is, I'm glad I didn't end up on his squad back when we were twelve."

This caused Sakura to snicker. "You weren't so glad when we were twelve." In response, the blond gave Sakura a face, but she just smirked in response. "Okay, okay, just hand the antidote to me."

Ino obliged thankfully. "I'll be making more down here." Sakura nodded thankfully, the antidote in hand, and left. On the way back up the elevator, to floor seven, room G130, Sakura's bright eyes studied the liquid—it was mostly clear with a surprisingly tiny hint of a multicolored hue in parts of it. It probably tasted horrible, but it still looked beautiful. Finally she gently knocked a couple of times on the door, and gingerly opened it, sliding into Gaara's room. The cure, secured by Sakura, in her hands, was enough to make Temari's face light up in pure joy. "Good work, Sakura-chan!" The still-loud, but deeper, voice of Naruto boomed out in the excited silence, filled of joy and happiness. The sudden shock of hearing Naruto's voice caused Sakura's sure, elegant fingers to slip and slide around, losing their grip upon the cure.

She gasped as it sped towards the ground. "Levitas no Jutsu," Sakura commanded loudly. Immediately, the small tube of antidote stopped cold, and slowly rose back up into her hands again. Multiple sighs of relief were heard throughout the room. Wary of Gaara's cure now, Sakura fluidly strode over to him in a way that was so perfect and graceful it could have been a dance. He looked up towards her, but said nothing. "We finally created it," She murmured quietly.

Gently, she placed her soft hand behind Gaara's surprisingly soft, spiky red locks, and tilted his head up. Usually, even now, Gaara rejected help when he knew he could do things clearly on his own, but now he didn't as Sakura's gentle hand tilted up his head, and he didn't object as she slowly poured it into his mouth. Finally once she had given him the last drop, she removed her hand, and began fiddling with the glass tube. "Would you prefer it in tea next time?" She asked curiously. To her intent surprise, Gaara shook his head; usually the antidote tasted horrible. To Gaara, it tasted mostly like strawberries, with a hint of vanilla and lemon. It was good, though he wasn't entirely sure why it tasted like that to him. Was it because Sakura had been working on it? Had somehow her fragrance rubbed off on it? Gaara just mentally shrugged it, and shoved the matter to the back of his mind.

Sakura watched him curiously for a moment, then slowly made her way towards the door, and gracefully danced outside of Gaara's room until she heard him violently coughing. She swung the door open and darted in. "What is it?"

"Tea," He coughed out, "next time."

A rosy pink spread across Sakura's cheeks. She giggled a little, and nodded. "Alright, Gaara-sama."

"Just Gaara,"

Sakura's cheeks flushed a deeper crimson color. "Okay—Gaara, then," She corrected herself, smiling towards him. "Sayonara, Gaara," Sakura added quietly, still blushing madly, she exited his room, and closed the door.

Then, Naruto's loud voice—still after all this time, it was so loud Sakura could always hear it when she was just outside a patients room—boomed out, thinking she couldn't hear. "You like Sakura-chan, Gaara?" He asked in surprise.

Of course, Gaara's soft voice couldn't be heard, so, not wanting to hear what Naruto's response would be, Sakura walked off elegantly down the hallway, towards the elevator. She pressed the button, and patiently waited. Finally it opened, and there was Tsunade standing in the small, compact space. "Ah, Sakura," She greeted, "konbanwa. Have you already treated Gaara?" She asked as she stepped off the elevator, pressing the hold button so Sakura wouldn't have to wait for another. Sakura nodded respectfully in response. "Alright then, well you are dismissed for today—no ANBU missions. For now, it is simply your duty to provide care to Gaara until he is well again, and has safely returned to Suna. Also," Tsunade began to add, pausing for a climax, "there's someone outside waiting for you."

Before the elevator doors swiftly closed, Tsunade smiled mischievously at Sakura. "Tell me everything that happens," She added just before the two metal doors shut completely. Confused at what Tsunade had last told her, and her odd smile, Sakura continued to guess at who was waiting up for her at the K.M.E.C entrance. Then as the elevator dropped, and its doors opened up again, her eyes almost widened. _Sasuke!? _She almost waved goodbye to him, and hit the button to take her back up to floor seven, where she was safe with Naruto from the bastard.

"Sakura," He called in his velvety, husky voice. "Come here." Scowling slightly, Sakura hesitantly obeyed Sasuke's command. Finally she was right in front of him, and her now-icy aqua gaze met his heartless onyx ones. "I've heard about your skill," He began slowly, "I've heard you've improved rapidly, and are still gaining much skill. I want to fight you."

His reasoning of coming here for her caused the porcelain young woman to snicker. "Well, I don't want to fight _you,_ Sasuke Uchiha." Sakura replied icily. "I see no gain in killing a comrade, even if they are an asshole."

The dark-eyed man's expression and body language remained impassive, though he was a little surprised that a woman so delicate looking would use such language. Though, maybe he was an asshole, Sasuke knew he was certainly not weaker than Sakura Haruno. "How could you kill me if I'm stronger than you?" He shot back just as icily.

"The fact of the matter is, Sasuke Uchiha," Sakura responded, "I'm not a little pussy anymore." She smiled sweetly at him, roughly passed him, her shoulder smashing into his, then turned back and added, "Maybe we could practice together later, though, and I'll show you how strong I really am." Without gazing at his perfect, godlike features or waiting for his response, Sakura simply strode out of the K.M.E.C., and out into the darkness of the night.

Her aqua eyes gazed around—it was still a little light outside, and the moon was bright and full that night; it would be a good night to take her shortcut. Sakura, instead of going straight, turned left into a narrow, jet-black alley. "Who are you?" She asked into the darkness.

The almost undetectable trace of chakra was suddenly not as hidden. "I'm not surprised you detected my presence." A soft, husky male voice noted, "They said you were swift, and strong—as your mentor."

_They, _Sakura repeated to herself. _Could this man be a part of the Akatsuki? _She paused a moment before making her decision final—she had heard this voice before, and she was sure that it was belonging to a member of the Akatsuki. Then she remembered, and anger shot through her. "Deidara," Sakura greeted emotionlessly, her face impassive. "Why are you here?"

Gracefully, Deidara appeared directly in front of Sakura, his long black and red robe flowing behind him. "You know, Sakura the Akatsuki is a masterpiece—a work of art to be left for history for eternity. This masterpiece is slowly beginning to waste away, piece by piece. The members of the Akatsuki are slowly being killed, but only one, Kisame, is truly dead." He paused for a moment, though Sakura was staring blankly at him. "We all need you to restore the pieces of this masterpiece that can be—Itachi, and Sasori-sempai. Then, we wish for you to join in where the missing piece, that cannot be restored, goes."

Sakura scowled at Deidara in the darkness, disgusted. "You want me to bring Itachi and Sasori back to where they fully function, and then you want me to join the Akatsuki?"

"It looks like we'll have to do this the hard way," Another voice, sleeker, though obviously masculine, spoke now. Sakura gritted her teeth, and mentally slapped herself—someone else was there, and she hadn't picked it up!

Then her aqua eyes followed the sound, and found its source, there, at the entrance of the shortcut, was a gray-eyed, red-haired man who she had killed years ago. Her breath got caught up in her throat at the shock of a dead man standing before her. "Saso—"

But icy hands wrapped around her mouth, cutting her off. She screamed bloody murder, but for all it was worth, Sakura could have just stayed silent. Quickly, Sakura did a spur-of-the-moment plan, a transportation jutsu to get her into the streets, into the light where there would hopefully be some people. Luckily, it worked. She had gotten out from the alley, and away from the two Akatsuki members. "Schermatura jutsu," Sakura yelled, and with that, she had placed a shield into their minds, making them fall into a series of complex jutsu and seals to break. It would hold them off for a while—enough time for Sakura to get help.

"Sakura," A familiar husky voice called out. For once in a very, very long time, the rosette haired kunouchi was glad to see the pale-skinned, dark-eyed man waiting a few meters away, near the hospital. She sprinted towards him, grabbed a tight hold of his wrist, and darted off, concealing both of their chakra signatures extremely well. "What the hell are you doing?" He asked, annoyed as she stopped, in a shady area. "Why are you disguising our chakra?"

Breathing heavily, she was still hiding it better than she ever had, and finally took in a deep breath. For the first time since Sasuke had come back, Sakura was looking at him with no hatred at all in her bright eyes. "Itachi, Kisame, Sasori," She whispered shakily, "they're all supposed to be dead, Sasuke. Deidara and Sasori are here, in Konaha. They caught me off-guard," She paused to breathe heavily for a moment. "I got away from them, obviously, but I cast a genjutsu upon them—one that holds them in a series of certain mental illusions, and with plenty of seals to break. I'm guessing we don't have much time—I estimated this was when they would break free of the jutsu."

"Wait," He noted. "What about Itachi, Kisame, and Sasori? Are they all alive still?" Sakura swung angrily at his face, but Sasuke easily blocked it, and both knew why—he was being a bastard about Itachi, and Kisame even, because he had killed them.

She glowered at him angrily. "Of course you would be thinking about only your brother at this time, you bitch."

"Are they?" He demanded, ignoring her language.

"Kisame is dead. Deidara said that Itachi and Sasori can be revived," She paused to take in a breath, "and I know for a fact I just saw Sasori, even though I killed him years ago."

Sakura could tell Sasuke was about to add something, but she pressed her soft, dainty hand to his mouth. She leaned silently in towards him, and whispered so low, though her lips were nearly pressed against Sasuke's ear, that he could barely hear it. "They're very close. I need to take Sasori on, if this turns into a fight." He looked as if he wished to object, but Sakura added, "Trust me." Then she leaned away from him, her hand still pressed against his mouth.

Suddenly Sakura felt a tugging against her mouth. "Shit!" She muttered. _Sasori must have attached chakra strings when he clamped his hand around my mouth. _Slowly her jaw began opening wider, and wider. She knew that if she screamed, it would stop, but they would know where they were. She suppressed a gasp as it grew wider than she had ever known was humanly possible. Her hands, no longer on Sasuke's mouth, dug deeply in the earth; she removed her left hand from the soft ground, her dominant hand, and placed it onto the center of her forehead, and concentrated heavily. Finally, she felt the strings detach from her mouth.

Now she began to assess what exactly the damage to her jaw was—just a little fracture, was all luckily. That could be fixed easily. She removed her gloves from each of her hands, and placed them against the exact two places where her jaw had been damaged. Almost immediately, Sakura felt an improvement, and silently sighed in relief. Sakura knew that Sasori and Deidara had just taken off, right after she had fixed her jaw, but to be sure, she and Sasuke sat there for a long while until their chakra signatures had faded almost completely. "I think it's safe now—I can barely sense their chakra signature here now." She whispered.

Slowly the two stood up, stiff from sitting completely still for hours, and began walking towards the main path cautiously. Just as the two approached Sasuke and Naruto's apartment, Sasuke stopped for a second, turning towards Sakura. "I think you should stay with us for a while, Sakura." He noted emotionlessly, though his velvet tone had a hint of urgency to it. "No doubt they're both still in Konaha, and they'll most likely attack when you least expect it—when you're sleeping."

She bit her lower lip, contemplating. "Alright…" She finally murmured.

Now Sasuke led her up the stairs, towards Naruto's apartment that she was all-too familiar with. Already, she knew it would smell like rotten milk and ramen, and it would like a shit bomb went off in it. Before Sasuke could pull out the key to Naruto's apartment from the doormat, she did, and swiftly put the key in the keyhole, twisted it, and turned the knob to find Naruto fiddling around in the kitchen. Of course, Sakura was right—from how it looked all the way down to the smell. "Oyasumi, Naruto," She greeted with a big grin. Naruto returned the grin, and the two crushed each other in a huge bear-hug.

"Oyasumi, Sakura-chan! What are you doing here so late?" He asked, his azure eyes flickering towards Sasuke, giving a quick smile towards his best friend.

"Naruto, is it alright if I stay the night here?" She asked hopefully. "It's best for the situation I've been put in—we'll explain everything. I promise."

Without hesitation, Naruto nodded. "Of course Sakura-chan—anything for a friend."

Sakura sighed in relief. "Thank so much Naruto. I owe you big time."

Then, after making three cups of Sakura's famous sweet lemon-vanilla herbal teas, Sakura and Sasuke summarized everything that had happened. For once, at the end of their summary, Naruto literally had nothing to say—his eyes were glass, and his face was as pale as Sasuke's. For Sakura, it was worse to see him like this compared to even when he was so furious he ended up in the Kyuubi's Cloak. "Good thing I got a king-sized bed recently. You're sleeping in the middle, Sakura-chan."

"What am I supposed to wear to sleep?" She asked. "Do I have any pajamas over here?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah—two, actually. You also have a medical uniform here. I washed them all, so they're clean. I put them up on my dresser—that's actually neat."

Sakura laughed. "Arigatou, Naruto," With that, she gracefully strode out of the living room, and into Naruto's bedroom. Her eyes nearly fell out when she saw the two pieces she had left at Naruto's. A blush spread across her cheeks as she looked at them. They were both silky slips, with black lace on the borders of the top and bottom. Both were ridiculously low-cut, and short. Sighing, she just decided on the sapphire blue one instead of the all black one. They were okay to wear around Naruto, who was like a brother to her, but these skimpy slips were absolutely not okay to wear around a guy that she had used to be in love with that she hadn't seen in years, and who she would be sleeping right beside. "I'll be right out!" She called, sighing as she trudged into Naruto's bathroom.

Quickly, Sakura yanked off her top, pulled down her shorts, and slid out of all her other equipment and gear. She set her clothes, gear, and bag in the sink—the only available spot, and stared at herself in the mirror as she unwound the protective cloth she used to protect her chest. Then she was officially in her skanky underwear—a strapless hot pink bra with baby pink and white splatters on it, with matching baby pink underwear, which could've passed for a thong if someone were just looking at it in the front. Self conscious suddenly, Sakura slid into her slip, and pulled her hair up into a mess, though it looked pretty, ponytail, gathered her things, stuffed them in her black bag she had brought along, and stepped out from the bathroom.

"Oh, you picked the blue one." Naruto noted as Sakura casually walked into the living room. "I like that one, blue looks nice on you, Sakura-chan."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I look like shit no matter what."

"That's crap right there. You've always been pretty, Sakura-chan!" Sakura laughed. "Seriously—you're beautiful."

She laughed again. "Arigato, Naruto," She sighed, and realized that Naruto had already changed. Sakura looked around unsurely. Where was Sasuke at?

There was no need to even ask the question though, because then he walked out, in a plain black t-shirt, like Naruto's, with dark blue pants Naruto had found somewhere. His dark eyes found her, and then quickly he averted his eyes. Sakura let her gaze drop down to her bare feet. Obviously she looked ugly to Sasuke—of course, Naruto would never admit she was hideous, but she knew it was true. Especially now. "Can we all sleep now? I'm exhausted!" Naruto asked.

Sakura nodded, yawning. "I'm going to sleep." Though Sasuke didn't say anything, he followed after Naruto and Sakura as they flicked off the lights while they made their way towards Naruto's bedroom. "Do I really have to sleep in the middle?" Sakura asked unsurely. She would rather sleep beside one person—preferably Naruto.

"Yeah, I'm not going to sleep by the Dobe." Sasuke responded.

"Hey!"

Sakura sighed as Sasuke slid in first, her second, and Naruto on the edge. She turned onto her left side, the side facing the wall, and tiredly blinked a few times before realizing she was inches away from Sasuke's face. "I lay on my left side out of habit." She noted tiredly.

"I sleep on my right side out of habit." He replied in the same tired voice. "Naruto, can you scoot over at all?" Sasuke asked. A thud was heard, and then a groan of pain. Sakura scooted even closer towards Sasuke, so Naruto could get back onto the bed.

"You scoot over, Sasuke." Sakura mumbled. To her intent surprise, he did, and now since it wasn't as awkward, the three drifted into an easy sleep.

* * *

It was late in the night now, though Sakura was only half asleep. Anxiety was twisted in the pit of her stomach, embedding itself deep into her. Then she felt two strong, warm hands tight around her waist and shoulders. A loud thud was easily heard throughout the small apartment, and immediately Sakura realized it had been Naruto's door. "Sakura," The husky, low whisper made Sakura tense, but then she relaxed when she realized it had been Sasuke who had spoken. "We have to leave."

Her muscles tightened as she heard them calling her name. They each knew that the three of them were in Naruto's room, and Sakura could tell. Quickly thinking, she grabbed hold of Naruto, who was still unconsciously sleeping, and built her chakra up. "Powielania-rimozione jutsu," She commanded loudly. Immediately, the three were no longer in Naruto's apartment complex, they were hidden in bushes near the complex.

A couple of minutes of pure silence passed, with Sakura shaking in an effort to keep the trio's chakra concealed very well, and to keep her advanced jutsu up. "Sasuke," She whispered in a strained voice. "Can you help me conceal chakra? I need to focus on this jutsu." Without a word, he nodded. "Just concentrate on what I'm doing, and tell me when you've got the hang of it so that I can stop."

Beads of sweat trickled down the kunouchi's neck, and on her face, but she was patient with Sasuke. She knew Sasuke knew how to conceal chakra, but not in the way she did. It would probably take him a while to figure it out completely. "I've got it," He whispered, which surprised Sakura. It had only been a while ago. But, slowly Sakura began to let Sasuke take over concealing their chakra completely, while she began fully concentrating on the jutsu she had cast.

Sakura was able to hear as the door to Naruto's bedroom was finally knocked down. Obviously the game was over, and this was where the duplicates of Naruto, Sasuke, and herself came in. She had posed them all in a sleeping position—the exact same as they had been. She made each of them jolt up from their fake sleeping in surprise at their loud entrance. "Shit!" She heard Deidara shout. "They got away again!"

"They're replicates…" Sasori noted calmly—obviously he had been expecting something of this nature. "I'm guessing they aren't far—probably they're all still near the complex."

She didn't release the jutsu yet—that would make them automatically know they were close enough to where they could hear. Quickly, still concentrating on the jutsu, Sakura grabbed a blade of grass when the two Akatsuki members weren't looking out the window. She held it right up at Naruto's nose, until he drowsily woke up. Before he could even speak, though, Sakura clamped her hand around his mouth. "Stay hidden," She warned almost silently.

Naruto just nodded once, immediately, without them having to explain what happened, aware of what exactly had happened while he had fallen asleep. Then she heard footsteps—no longer from Naruto's apartment, though. She could hear them leaving his apartment. Now Sakura released the jutsu, and began helping Sasuke in disguising their chakra perfectly. "Don't worry, Deidara-san, we will capture her another time, when she's caught off-guard—more so than tonight." She heard Sasori tell his pupil, and partner. She heard their footsteps grow closer for a moment, then she heard them reseeding, fading into the background until they were completely gone. Shaking, sweaty, cold, scared, and finally, exhausted, Sakura rested her head against the moist, itchy tall grass and closed her eyes for a moment.

* * *

Icy wind caused her sleek, blond-and-rosette hair to whip against her face. Her eyelids fluttered open, and her eyes adjusted, she realized why she wasn't really freezing to death. Sakura's face was nestled into someone's strong chest and bicep, while his arms were securely wrapped around her waist. Then, Sakura also realized that their legs were twined together as well. Sakura slowly began to look up, praying that Naruto was holding her, but to her intent surprise she realized that it was Sasuke—there was no mistaking Sasuke's dark, unique hairstyle from Naruto's light, messy hairstyle. Then onyx met aqua. "You're up," She muttered sleepily.

"Hn,"

With that, the two quickly untangled themselves from each other. "How did this happen?" She asked plainly, though she truly was curious. Had she gotten hold of Sasuke, or had he gotten hold of her?

"You were shaking so badly in your sleep it was ridiculous, and your face was beginning to turn a little blue." He explained in the same plain voice as she had asked the question.

"Oh, thanks," Sakura replied as she stiffly rose up from her position. She felt her eyes widen. "Where's Naruto?" She asked quietly. Her muscles tensed, and fully alert now, she scanned the area. "Sasori," She finally called out.

There was a chilling gust of wind, and in a heartbeat, the flawless redhead appeared directly in front of Sakura. "Sakura," He greeted casually. A smirk formed on his face as her emotionless shell fell, broken, to unveil fear and sadness. His icy fingers grabbed a piece of her silky blond-rosette hair that had strayed from the other pieces, and tucked it behind her ear. Fluidly, disappeared, and then reappeared quickly behind her, pressing a chilly kunai up against her neck. "I know you want Naruto to live," He paused to spin Sakura around so she was facing him. "Last night, Deidara took him back to Akatsuki Headquarters. We'll return the Kyuubi back to Konaha without harming him on one condition, and I think you know what that is."

Sakura bit her lower lip and looked away from his horrid gray eyes and down towards her shoes. Her vision was blurry with tears. "I…" She choked on her words, and then she looked back up to Sasori. "I need time," She finally sputtered out, despite the huge lump in her throat.

"I hate waiting, and I hate making people wait, you should know this from the last time we fought." He responded in his sleek, icy voice, smiling a twisted smile at her. "I will give you three days," He paused, and then added in a low voice, so only the two of them could hear it, "only because you defeated me."

Sakura was about to say something, but before she could he was out of sight. Strong, warm hands wrapped around her tiny wrist, and it caused her to jump, then she relaxed when she realized it was Sasuke. "We're going to Tsunade. Now," The dark-haired man told her in a robotic tone. Too upset to respond verbally, Sakura gave him a tiny nod in agreement, and the two darted off to the Hokage Tower. The darkened roads, lit dimly by the rising sun, was blurry as they went past it—from a mixture of the high speeds Sakura was traveling, and the tears that lingered in her eyes, though she was strongly keeping them from streaming out.

Her fragile porcelain hand found Sasuke's wrist, and she yanked him strongly to a stop. "Go tell Tsunade…" Sakura breathed heavily, wiping at her eyes, "…everything. Don't wait for me, Sasuke." Before he could object, and she knew that Sasuke most likely would, Sakura darted off in the opposite direction, but she heard him coming after her. It was worth it—herself, worthless and of no value, for Naruto's life.

The hope in what she saw as giving her uselessness up for her best friend, her brother, of so much greater value than she could ever hope to be, was enough to get her going ahead of Sasuke. She heard his footsteps stop too quickly and suddenly to be giving up on her, which made her stop. Sakura felt his warm hands wrapping around her ankles, and dragging her down into the ground below with him. It was complete darkness, and very silent for a long while. "Sakura," His sleek, husky voice began in a soft, soothing manner. It almost made her jump when she felt him gently press her up against the earthy wall. "Do you want to know why I killed Orochimaru?" She felt his hot breath breeze against her ear. She could feel his lips almost touching her skin as he spoke—how close Sasuke had gotten to Sakura made her a little uncomfortable, but she didn't try to move away. "He saw how powerful I was, but he only wanted me as his next container because of my eyes. He truly wished for you to be his next container—Orochimaru saw you contained great potential; more than myself." Slowly, Sasuke leaned away from her ear, and his eyes stared into hers as he spoke. "Now you save lives—people depend on you all throughout Konaha, and in Suna as well. Even the Akatsuki want you as theirs now. Don't call yourself useless or worthless, because obviously," He paused for a second, and then added in a whisper, "you aren't."

Sasuke's kind, gentle words made Sakura blush in the darkness. She knew he probably knew she was blushing. "Naruto is my closest friend, and he's valuable to everyone in this village, but I can see it in the eyes of strangers when you walk by them. They value you much more."

"Sasuke…thank you for everything." She whispered, an unbelievable mix of emotions running through her as she quoted exactly what he had said to her the last time Sakura had seen him as a pre-teenage kid. Sakura knew he was remembering too. He tensed, thinking she was going to leave him as he had left her. "You don't know how long I've waited to hear that from you. After being so protected by you…no matter how hard I had tried or how much I was prepared, you were simply there. You didn't want me to get hurt. It always made me feel worthless, like I was always just in the way, even after the Chuunin exams." It felt odd as the two opened up to each other, but Sakura liked it a little.

She heard him chuckle a little in the darkness, and then she felt unsure arms wrap around her in an awkward hug. She almost gasped in surprise, but didn't. Instead Sakura placed her arms around Sasuke's neck, returning the gesture. "I haven't done this since I was a small child, going to the academy. It was the morning before…that night." He admitted quietly, struggling with words at the end, not wanting to say anything relating to the massacre. "But the reason I did that was because, at first, it seemed to be my job—no one else was good enough to protect you. You truly were weak at the beginning, but you grew stronger. It became a habit—protecting you. Then at the Chuunin exams…I knew you were strong enough. But I was so angry at how they had treated you and destroyed you. When I left though, I tried to server all bonds between me, but it seems yours survived."

Sasuke smirked down at Sakura as she looked up and smiled at him. The way the two had opened up to each other left her feeling renewed, and happier than ever. "Sasuke…" She whispered quietly. Without warning, Sakura stood up on her tip toes, and pressed her lips against his in a rough kiss. A shocking sensation went through the both of them, each with different emotions packed into the electric sensation. At first Sasuke was surprised, and Sakura as well at herself. Slowly, Sasuke realized it felt right to have his lips against her full, soft ones.

For Sakura, it was like she had never experienced a kiss until now. Of course, between seduction missions and boyfriends, she had experienced many things. But it was like suddenly she was madly in love with him again, except this time he felt it too, just a little bit, and she wasn't acting like his fangirl anymore. Slowly, the two pulled away from each other, in need of air. "You…."

"I kissed you." Sakura finished. Then, for the first time in years, Sasuke felt himself have a tiny smile form onto his face.

* * *

**Comment if you love me.:)  
**Aren't you proud of me? The romance increased.:D Okay, definitely Sasuke is OOC still. I am working on him, but be aware that as he spends more time with Sakura, and soon Ino as well, his personality will change. He's already smiled.^^ Chapter three is soon to be. I'm such a poetic at heart.

~LUN!T!C


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